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Are you a night owl who doesn’t like fleeing the nest? Do you like earning extra income over those who work a traditional schedule? Night shift jobs that allow you to work from home are becoming more common and if this is something that interests you, we’re here to show you what’s involved in getting started.
Night shift work from home jobs are available across a multitude of industries. Before applying, ask yourself why you want to work nights from home. You must be self-disciplined in regards to limiting distractions, diet, sleep and performing your role to a maximum level without constant supervision.
This article covers off; why you’d want to work nights from home, performing a role with no experience, what you should consider before applying, salary expectations and where to find a job. We hope this answers outstanding questions for those considering this line of work or provides you with the boost to apply for a job if you’ve been on the fence for some time!
Why Would You Want to Work Night Shift from Home?
- You call yourself a night owl. You feel much more productive later in the day/at night rather than throughout the day
- Working the night shift may be better for family life. You can take the kids to school, sleep during the day and pick them up in the afternoon.
- You’ve figured out that night shift work from home is the perfect balance between your partners/spouse schedule and your other commitments
- Wearing your choice of comfortable attire while you work is priceless
- Having the time and flexibility to schedule your personal appointments without having to take time off
- Being able to go to the beach or play your favorite sport during the day
- Avoiding costly and time-consuming (and sometimes dangerous) commutes to work
- Saving money on meals by being at home for your meal breaks (here are some quick and delicious recipes if you need some inspiration)
- Want to avoid workplace drama
- Potentially higher pay rates by being willing to work times when employers need work done but cannot find people willing to work the overnight shift are some other reasons.
Night Shift from Home with No Experience
…Is it possible and what should you be aware of?
With modern technology combined with the current marketplace for jobs, there is an abundance of opportunity for work from home night shift jobs that require no preexisting experience.
There are so many needs from employers that many have developed training modules that teach you everything you need to know. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has forced some companies hand to offer even more of these opportunities
Obviously, the more experience you already have, the more in demand you will be. That being said, it is much less of an obstacle than it used to be in finding the job you desire.
It is easy enough these days to take your skillset strengths (not always the same thing as job experience) and just do an internet search for “Best night shift jobs working from home for people who enjoy _______” or “Best night shift jobs working from home for people who are good at ______.”
The beauty of being able to find employment working a job you don’t already have experience doing is that you will often pick up skills and education that will lead you to a better job later on or a higher paying and more enjoyable job later on.
For example, I enjoy playing golf. Say I type in “Best night shift jobs working from home for people who like to play golf.” I see a job listed for a work from home reservation agent. I find out no previous experience is necessary and apply for the job. They offer me a job working nights on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10pm till 6am. As a side bonus, I find out I get access to some amazing golf vacations for me, my family, and up to 3 friends at a steep discount.
Related: 9 Myths About Night Shift Jobs You Probably Still Believe
Or maybe you search “Best night shift jobs working from home for people who are good at science.” You don’t find anything that perfectly suits you but decide to apply for a job doing data entry.
Once you get the job and start work, you are doing data entry for a company doing a research project on reforestation. While you are keying data, you find yourself infatuated with the work the company is doing. After finishing your shift, you decide to find out more about the company. While researching the company you find out that they have a job available working nights from home doing work you are passionate about. The rest is history.
Another way you can go about your job search is by researching what jobs are expected to be most in demand in the future that you can work from home at night. Once you see what most interests you, look for the best ways to position yourself to be highly sought after by these companies.
For example, you find that with the entire world going digital, cybercrimes are expected to skyrocket. You also see that the projected number of workers needed to combat this problem is way greater than the projected number of workers to fill the positions.
You do a little digging and find you can get two basic certifications that will land you a night shift job from home working for a cybersecurity company. You take the courses, get a job with the company, and learn that they will pay for you to get more certifications. These certifications qualify you for a new level of work with them that results in receiving fifty percent higher pay.
What Should You Consider Before Applying for a Job?
The answer to this question is multifaceted and the one you should perhaps spend most of your efforts addressing.
The following is a partial list of some of the most important considerations to make before committing to a night shift job where you are working from home:
| What type of work makes you most happy? | You want to choose a job that you look forward to doing more than you dread doing. |
| What do you do best? | If you can’t do high-quality work, neither you nor your employer will likely be satisfied. |
| What work schedule works best for you and your family? | For Instance, maybe your spouse works and you need to be done working in time to get the kids ready for school and off to the bus stop. Or maybe one of your kids plays a high school sport that you like to attend but you can’t make it back home till 9:30pm. Perhaps you need to be off on Sunday mornings in time to attend early church. |
| What flexibility do you need with your schedule? | Perhaps you like to travel and need to be able to start early occasionally so you can get off early to make the trip. Maybe you are a stay at home mom or dad who needs to be the one to handle a late night awakening by a young child who is sick or hungry. In that case you might want to make sure your work is the type that you just have to have your workload met by the end of your shift (e.g. transcription jobs) rather than be available every second (e.g. call center jobs or remote security jobs). |
| What job makes you feel fulfilled and proud of your work? | At the end of your shift, you should be able look back on your work and feel like you did a great job. If you don’t choose a job that allows this, your job satisfaction and possibly even your personal life may suffer. |
| How well can you adapt to being required to stay awake while most people sleep and sleep while most are awake? | As most people are aware, not everyone is a night owl. For some, staying up all night comes second nature. Others can’t seem to stay awake under any circumstance once the clock strikes midnight. There are things you can do to train yourself to handle the challenge of working night shift. You can slowly modify your sleep and wake schedule until it feels more natural to be awake overnight. You can modify your diet to include more fruit and energy producing foods to keep you fresh and alert. You can workout and exercise before starting your shift. Caffeine is fine in moderation but should be avoided for at least 6 hours prior to your planned time to go to sleep. If nothing seems to help you handle being up all night, you should probably not pursue a work from home night shift job. |
| Are you the type of person suited to work from home? | Some people thrive on knowing what is expected of them and getting it done without someone looking over their shoulder all the time. Others do better if a boss or manager is there constantly monitoring their work progress. If you are the latter and need that to push you to do your best work, working from home might not be in your best interest. If you don’t have a lot of privacy for your work environment at home or there are too many distractions, you also might want to avoid working from home. |
Will My Health Suffer If I Take A Night Shift Job From Home?
It may if you don’t set clear boundaries for yourself. But getting sick and run down is not a guarantee just because you work nights.
Many studies have been done on the effects of night shift work hours on people’s health. We wrote a whole post about it here – Does Night Shift Shorten Your Life? 10 Impacts of 3rd Shift if you want to learn more.
But to give you a snapshot, research has suggested that working nights and sleeping days may increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, cancer, depression, and various other health conditions.
That being the case, it’s time to find some ways you can counter these potential deleterious effects.
- Diet – You should find a diet that is most likely to keep you healthy but you’re actually interested in eating – not forced to eat. Look for healthy foods that will keep you awake and alert throughout your shift without having to depend too much on caffeine or energy drinks. This post will help understand fatigue and the foods you can eat to counteract it – Scroll through it here.
- Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated – There are even apps that help you do this. Iced water at night is what keeps me alert. Sounds too simple but it works! If you want an extra kick (and to fill the gaps in your diet of the good stuff you may have missed) – I drink SuperGreen TONIK and I think you should give it a go too. See my honest review here.
- Exercise – You should optimize an exercise regime that counters the potential negative effect working nights can have on your metabolism. Try to do the bulk of your exercise after you wake up instead of before going to sleep (though this can work for some people too – check out this post).
- Alcohol and other drugs – Avoid excess alcohol or taking diuretics before you go to sleep as these may cause frequent awakenings that could disturb your sleep. Though you may fall asleep quickly, it won’t last long! If you’re interested in the vitamins recommended for night shift workers, here they are.
- Sleep – Different people require different quantities of sleep as well as different times to sleep. You should probably figure out what is best for you before you commit to certain shift hours.
We’ve said this many times, including in interesting this post, but try and create a cold, quiet, dark cave for yourself. Use special shades (these are incredibly popular on Amazon) that block out all or almost all outside light and wearing blue light-blocking glasses which may help as well. Pictured below.
- Cell Phone – Turn off cellphone notifications and call volume. Don’t keep phones in your bedroom at all if you can. Try to make sure family and friends know your sleep plans and do not interrupt them unless it is extremely important. Ideally, you should eliminate all potential interruptions to your sleep.
- Melatonin – If you must take a sleep aid to help fall and stay asleep, consider low-dose melatonin (after consulting your doctor first). When it gets dark, the pineal gland produces and secretes the hormone melatonin. This signals the brain that it is time to sleep.
Night shift workers need to sleep during the day when it is not naturally dark. Taking melatonin helps trick the brain in to thinking it is time to go to sleep. Watch the video below about what to think about in regards to taking Melatonin.
Before you make the commitment to work nights from home, discuss things with your family and make sure you are going to be able to handle staying awake all night.
What Types of Jobs Can Be Done At Night?
I suggest you start looking under a broad category. When those choices come up you will find many options for varying subcategories.
| Customer Service | Customer Service operator (banks, telecommunications, data entry, auditor, staffing services etc) | UHaul, Amazon Mechanical Mturk, USA Contact Point, FCR, Walmart, Sigtrack, Smart Crowd |
| Ride Share | Though not directly at home, you are your own boss and can choose your own hours. | Uber, Lyft, Via, Gett, Crb |
| Social Media Moderator and Research | Keep an eye on accounts, incoming leads, statistics etc. | Advanis, Appen, Media Bistro |
| Recruitment | Reading resume, undertaking and planning interviews | ORC International, Royal Recruitment |
| Translation Services | Help customers enhance, train, translate and localize their content | Lionbridge, Rev, Scribi, Language Line |
| Writing and Other Creative Services | Helping website owners and bloggers edit text, write articles, find suitable images and graphic design | Upwork, Fiverr, Clickworker, 3 Play Media, FancyHands, 99 Designs, Design Crowd, FlexJobs |
| Online Teacher | If you speak more than one language and want to work from home – this job may be ideal for you. | BrainFuse, VIPKids |
While searching for jobs, you will also see there are multiple types of pay offered. You may be offered hourly wages, salary, or contract pay proposals.
Where Can You Find Jobs if You Are Interested?
There is an abundance of locations that will help you find the perfect night shift job working from home.
The popular websites designed specifically to help employees and contractors find jobs (as well as employers find employees) are;
- Indeed
- Upwork
- Ziprecruiter
- SimplyHired
- JobCrawler
- Glassdoor
- Jooble
- Monster
- Jobs2Careers
Some of these sites have a template to help you create a resume that is stored on their site and visible to potential employer prospects.
You could also try searching the most popular search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) and see what those platforms return. They will most likely link to the one of the sites listed above.
You can also join social media groups (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) to help you network with others with similar interests. This can lead to job prospects as well.
Lastly, there are many YouTube videos and podcasts that can be helpful as well – not a place I expected to find help, but you’ll be surprised with the level of content going around. Here’s a great video to get you started.
[VIDEO] – If you’ve never work a night shift before, this video I recently published is perfect for you.
In summary: Night Shift Work From Home Jobs
We wish you all the best with your new job hunt and hope you find a role that fulfils you. Working nights at home can be extremely rewarding for those looking to do it full time, or even as a side hustle to earn a little extra cash.
Now, if after reading that you’re not sure working from home is from you, it might be worth checking out this post. It’s all about working in a warehouse – a job gaining momentum due to the independence and job availability.
Cheers,
Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links, meaning we receive a commission if you decide to make a purchase through our links, but this is at no additional cost to you. Please read our disclosure and privacy statement for more info.
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